Artists have always used easels to support their canvas, sketch pad, etc. while drawing or painting pictures. Using this conventional technique, the artist holds a paint brush in one hand, a palette in the other hand, and stands upright in front of an easel. However, this conventional technique has several disadvantages. First, unless the easel is an adjustable easel, the artist must remain standing while he is painting. Also, the artist will have both hands occupied, thus limiting his overall mobility. In addition, an artist may need to use several different tools for a single piece of work. The conventional technique provides no place to place these tools and mix his paints.
Prior solutions to these problems have not been completely satisfactory. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 1,225,642 (Jones) discloses a folding easel which incorporates a shelf. This shelf solves some of the foregoing problems but it does not provide an ideal place to mix paints. U.S. Pat. No. 1,782,118 (Cahall) discloses a stretchable easel for different sized canvases which includes a support for a shelf thereon. This easel does not provide a place for paint mixing either. U.S. Pat. No. 518,544 (Faint) discloses an easel with a shelf, but the shelf cannot be used as a palette.